Kittery school boss to lawmakers: Fund improved security now

KITTERY, Maine — School superintendent Allyn Hutton has sent out a plea to Washington and Augusta alike, seeking to secure a modest amount of funding considered crucial to add security measures to the community's schools.

KITTERY, Maine — School superintendent Allyn Hutton has sent out a plea to Washington and Augusta alike, seeking to secure a modest amount of funding considered crucial to add security measures to the community's schools.

The request is being made in the context of the tragedy at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., last month, “a game changer for all school leaders as we delve into how we convert our schools, designed as centers of learning, into a safe and fortified environment,” Hutton wrote.

She sent out letters last Friday to all members of the Maine congressional delegation, Gov. Paul LePage, Maine Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, President Barack Obama, state Sen. Dawn Hill, D-York, and state Rep. Deane Rykerson, D-Kittery.

“I'm looking for anybody who can help us,” she said. “I figure, why not cast as wide a net as possible?”

Hutton is seeking up $150,000 to make changes to the main entrances of all three town schools, which right now open directly into the schools themselves. The money would be used to add doors into the school offices, which would allow access only into a controlled environment.

Security cameras and an electronic visitor pass system are also part of the project.

“We have to make something happen now. We have to find the money to do this work,” she said Tuesday. “We need to keep students out of harm's way.”

The work is being proposed in a new crisis plan that includes such efforts as teacher and student training within the context of various emergencies from a bomb threat to an armed intruder.

At a recent Parent Teacher Association meeting when the plan was unveiled, parents particularly drew attention to school security, Hutton said.

“We heard parents say, 'Access to my child during the day seems too easy. While I love it, it also scares me,'” Hutton said.

She is asking federal officials to reallocate Department of Homeland Security grant money into school security. As for state funding, she has asked officials to consider setting aside money derived from the Oxford Casino, which is to be used for education, for the same reason.

“While I know that funding at both the state and federal levels is under close scrutiny, I appeal to you and others to consider making school and student safety a high priority,” she wrote.

Hutton said she is committed to starting the work as soon as she receives final bids, with or without out help from the state or federal government. But wherever she finds the money, “I'm going to have to rob Peter to pay Paul. We don't have that kind of money.”

She likely will not be able to turn to taxpayers for help, as the Town Council has demanded a level-funded budget for 2013-14.

All of this has left her looking as close as next door and as far afield as possible to find funding. “There is no greater need right now than funding the needs to keep all students and staff safe in our schools,” she wrote.